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Honors invites astronomer to ‘Speak with E.T.’

April 18, 2013

”Speaking with E.T. – We’re All Ears,” will be discussed by the director of the Washington State University planetarium in a free, public presentation at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, in the Honors Hall lounge. Refreshments will be served.

Michael L. Allen was selected by WSU Honors College students to present the annual invited lecture sponsored by the Honors Student Advisory Council.

Allen supports the thesis that earth’s first contact with alien life will be with a technological alien species. His support is based upon the supposition that technological activity is the most pervasive type of lifelike activity that exists.

Collaborations enhance addiction therapy research

April 9, 2013

Brendan Walker

A faculty member is one of about 25 scientists selected to participate in a prestigious international symposium this week, where he will discuss his work on drug and alcohol addiction and upcoming collaboration with WSU Spokane addiction researchers. This collaboration is expected to lead to combined behavioral and pharmaceutical therapies.

Brendan Walker, Washington State University associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, attended the fifth Indo-American “Frontiers of Science” symposium, sponsored by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Kavli Foundation, in Agra, India. “Frontiers of Science” facilitates collaboration between nationally and internationally recognized young scientists in the physical and life sciences. Some previous participants have gone on to become NAS members and Nobel Prize recipients.

“I was very surprised when the invitation from the president of the NAS came. It’s definitely an honor,” he said.

Debate project takes WSU students inside Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

April 4, 2013

Of the 26 college students who teamed up this semester to participate in Wednesday’s debate over the issue of gun control at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, only half boarded the bus at the end of the day to make the long drive back to Washington State University in Pullman. The remaining 13, enrolled on-site in programs offered through Walla Walla Community College, instead rejoined the inmate population of the all-male correctional facility.

For the undergraduates from WSU – juniors and seniors working on majors within the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology – the trek to Coyote Ridge was the fourth and final one of the semester. And while second amendment rights may have served as the focus for their debate, most of the Criminal Justice students were drawn to the experience primarily for the opportunity to develop something more than an abstract notion about the realities of working within the corrections system.

Master of Fine Arts show at Museum of Art

April 2, 2013

Encounters with creativity await visitors to the Washington State University Museum of Art’s annual Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, April 5-May 4. An opening reception will be at 6 p.m. Friday, April 5, in the museum gallery. Museum admission is always free.

The display of work by MFA graduate candidates was organized by Keith Wells, the late Museum of Art curator.

“This exhibition provides a wide range of styles for faculty, students and local museum constituents,” Wells said. “The world class faculty at WSU encourage the MFA candidates to become more confident and articulate in their convictions. The museum presents this year’s graduate thesis work in hopes that undergraduate students, first year graduate students and anyone willing to be moved by art will find it a fun and stimulating experience.”

Researcher: Dispel Newtown’s misreporting

April 1, 2013

In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., grade school killings, the Associated Press has issued guidelines for reporters on coverage of mental disorders.

“That’s a good, first step in dispelling the myth that autism causes people to commit horrific crimes,” said a Washington State University psychology professor who has researched the disorder.

After Adam Lanza shot 27 people and then himself on Dec. 14, numerous media reports implied a link between his shooting rampage and the fact that he had Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning type of autism.

“When I first heard that, I thought, ‘Oh no, this is bad. This is really bad,’” said WSU psychologist Theodore Beauchaine, who spent a decade researching the condition that affects one in 88 children, according to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.